THE RE-ARRANGING of fixtures has been The Saddlers' main concern over the course of the last few days.

Three fixtures were postponed due to the inclement weather - Bristol Rovers (a), Norwich City (h) and Charlton Athletic (h) whilst our scheduled trip to Leeds United on Saturday, 23^rd January had to be re-arranged due to their FA Cup commitments.

With that in mind, www.saddlers.co.uk gives you an insight into what takes place when a game is postponed and subsequently re-arranged.

Regulation 25.1 of the Football League's Rules and Regulations states that: 'in the event of any League Match not being played owing to Football Association Cup Matches, weather or other causes over which neither Club has any control or being ordered to be replayed it shall be played on a date to be mutually arranged, but at the earliest reasonable opportunity. Both Clubs shall notify the Executive of such arrangements within seven days of the postponement being identified, for the approval of the Executive. Any League Match not so arranged shall have its date fixed by the Executive'

"Once the game is postponed, and after consulting with the management team and other Officials, the home club will contact the away club with one or two possible dates for the re-arranged fixture," explains Assistant Club Secretary, Daniel Mole. "The away club will then consult with their management team and Officials before deciding whether or not they are happy with the date(s) suggested.

"As we were the home club for both the Norwich and Charlton fixtures, we put dates forward and, on both occasions, the opposition agreed to those dates. The next available dates for the fixtures were the 12^th and 19^th of January, so Norwich was arranged for the 12^th and Charlton arranged for the 19^th.

"Once the two clubs have agreed, the new date is put to the Football League, who rubber-stamp the fixture. We were in a unique situation for the Charlton game as, although a date of Tuesday, 19^th January was initially agreed between both clubs and the Football League, we had issues surrounding spectator safety. Therefore we had to go back to Charlton and the League, who agreed to reschedule the re-arrangement.

"As Charlton's game with Leyton Orient, originally scheduled for Saturday, 23^rd January, was moved to Monday 25^th for television coverage, they were unavailable that week, so the next 'earliest reasonable opportunity' was Tuesday, 2^nd February.

"For the two away postponed fixtures, as we had done with Charlton and Norwich, Bristol Rovers and Leeds both suggested dates at 'the earliest reasonable opportunity' for these games to go ahead.

"From our point of view, as the Charlton game hadn't been re-arranged at this point, we were free midweek in early February, as were Bristol Rovers. However both clubs were mindful of the fact that we were due to meet at the Banks's Stadium on Saturday, 6^th February. With this in mind, initially both clubs requested that the fixture was played in March. Obviously, this wasn't 'the earliest reasonable opportunity' and the League stated that they would prefer the tie to be played in February and put forward Tuesday, 2^nd, 9^th or 16^th of that month.

"We preferred the 16^th as it would mean that we wouldn't have to face the prospect of playing the same team twice in the space of five days - either Tuesday - Saturday or Saturday - Tuesday. However, because Bristol Rovers share their ground with Bristol Rugby Club, they had concerns over the 16^th as they had a football match on the Saturday and a rugby match on the Sunday. They were concerned about hosting three events in four days. The League Executive ruled in favour of Bristol Rovers and Tuesday, 9^th February was the date set for this fixture.

"With Leeds, ironically they too originally suggested Tuesday, 9^th but their Johnstone's Paint Trophy fixture was subsequently moved to this date, meaning the 'earliest reasonable opportunity' was Tuesday, 16^th February.

"From a footballing point-of-view it hasn't been ideal as we now face the prospect of nine games in 29 days. Also, we are mindful of the financial strain it places on our supporters.

"The Southend game will now have to be re-arranged and there are obviously concerns surrounding next Tuesday's re-arranged fixture with Norwich City as the weather doesn't seem to be showing any signs of improving.

"Hopefully, this has given the supporters an insight into how the fixtures are re-arranged. It's not an easy process but we are grateful for the co-operation we have received from the clubs concerned and the Football League.

"Reports suggest this is the worst winter we have experienced in 30 years. Obviously nobody wants to postpone games. It impacts clubs and supporters on many levels, including a financial one. However, sometimes you just can't beat the elements."